Best Actress 2017

05. Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman - I think we can all agree that 2017 was a pretty shitty year, but at the very least we can all agree that at least 2017 gave us one good and pure thing - bonafide movie star Gal Gadot. Her female empowerment film became a blockbuster success thanks to her endearing, adorable, ass-kicking charm and general badassery. From casually wearing weaponry with formal wear to that sweet chemistry with Chris Pine to that time she had ice cream and saw it snow for the first time, Gal Gadot became a goddamn national treasure. Here's to more bad ass female superheroes in movies directed by bad ass female directors.

04. Nicole Kidman in The Beguiled - Kidman has had a hell of a year. She is one of the few female movie stars that seem to be getting even more interesting parts in her 40s and 50s than she did in her 20s and 30s. In 2017 alone, she played a supporting role in Top of the Lake, went toe to toe with Colin Farrell in Killing of a Sacred Deer, and pretty much showed that she was the finest working actress who deserved every award under the sun in Big Little Lies. Something about Kidman screams out that she was born for period pieces, and she proves that with a perfect nuanced performance in The Beguiled. She's a prudish and haughty school marm who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty and get a little, well, bloody.

03. Kristen Stewart in Personal Shopper - I guess the one good thing about making tons of money in a franchise about vampires when you are super young is that it affords you the opportunity to do the work you really want to do and make tiny little ghost stories for probably no money. Post-Twilight, Kristen Stewart has become one of the most interesting and exciting young actresses out there. Her role here is difficult because she spends the majority of the movie alone, and texting on the phone with a maybe ghost. Yet, her performance still manages to be subtle and raw and real, and yes, a little bit awkward, but also a lot sexy.

02. Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird - I want to scream from the rooftops about how much I love every single thing about Lady Bird, from the script to the music (even that Dave Matthews Band song!) to the direction to the performances. And while every single character is real and excellent, Ronan shines as the conflicting teenager Lady Bird, who is both insecure and entirely self-assured. Her performance is as unique as the character and here Ronan is so fearless. In a genre filled with career defining performances for teenage girls, Ronan's might just be the very best.

01. Florence Pugh in Lady MacBeth - Enter all the on fire emojis here, because Pugh is a live wire from start to finish. Who is this girl, and why isn't she a household name? Because she should be, and she probably will be. It's not usually pretty young girls who get to make movies where they start off as a sympathetic figure and end up as a raving sociopath. But Pugh delivers from start to finish, from looking pretty as a picture in a dress to becoming conniving and manipulative, from sweetness to sexiness. This is a career making performance and a master class of acting.

DVD Mini Reviews

Once again, trying to get caught up on all the movies I missed in theaters earlier this year, for better or worse (mostly worse, unfortunately).

The Call
Stars: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin
Plot: A 911 operator gets a phone call from a teenager who has been kidnapped and is being kept in the truck of a car speeding on the freeway and it is eerily reminiscent of a call she had a few months earlier that ended in the death of a different blonde, pretty teenager.
Thoughts: Look, I'm surprised as you are, but I actually enjoyed this movie up until that TERRIBLE ending (and it was so bad, it deserves all caps!). Sure, there are plot holes but I can ignore a plot hole if the movie is at least intriguing and fast paced and entertaining, and The Call was all of these things. Right up until the end, anyway.
Grade: C

Upstream Color
Stars: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth
Plot: I copy and pasted the following from IMDB because I can't even... "A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives."
Thoughts: I mean, maybe I'm not as smart as I thought I was, but I didn't get this movie AT ALL. I typically enjoy difficult films. I'm okay with not really completely understanding what's happening, but this movie was so far over my head that I could barely even stand to watch it. It's one of those beautiful, pretentious movies that intellectuals and film snobs love, so I watched it hoping to take something away from it, but really just left with a headache.
Grade: F

Stoker
Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, Jacki Weaver
Plot: After the death of her father, India grieves while also dealing with some internal changes. Also, her mysterious uncle comes to visit.
Thoughts: The great thing about this movie is that it has stayed with me for weeks. I'm still thinking about it, all this time later. The performances across the board are phenomenal, especially from Wasikowska, who is just amazing. Still, I think it feels like it is too artsy for its own good at times. It's got a good story though, and it's definitely an intriguing film.
Grade: B-

Black Rock
Stars: Kate Aselton, Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell
Plot: Three childhood friends return to a seemingly abandoned island for a camping trip only to discover it isn't so abandoned and, soon, they are fighting for their lives.
Thoughts: Theoretically, this is a great movie. I love the fact that it's directed by a woman and stars three women who have complicated personal lives and are sort of bad ass. However, it's all so pointless. The movie wants to be shocking, when it really should just be a character study. I wanted to like this so much more than I did.
Grade: D+

21 & Over
Stars: Miles Teller, Skylar Astin, Sarah Wright
Plot: A group of friends party for one of their 21st birthdays. Hi-jinx ensues, i.e. The Hangover for college kids.
Thoughts: There were a few genuinely funny moments in this film, and Teller all but saves the movie with his wry charm (he's going to be a huge star, but don't trust me. He's in Spectacular Now out soon and Divergent next year). Still, it's mostly cliche after cliche about hard partying and drinking games and male nudity. We've all seen this movie before.
Grade: C-

Golden Globes Nominees & Thoughts

Subtitled: It Seems Like the Only Person Who Wants to Give Jason Clarke Any Loving is ME!

Best Picture - Drama
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
Thoughts - Glad to see SOMEONE finally liking Django Unchained. I'm psyched to finally see it next week!

Best Actor - Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Richard Gere - Arbitrage
John Hawkes - Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight
Thoughts - Richard Gere??? THAT changes everything!

Best Actress - Drama
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
Helen Mirren - Hitchcock
Naomi Watts - The Impossible
Rachel Weisz - The Deep Blue Sea
Thoughts - I guess I'll have to suffer through The Deep Blue Sea. I attempted to watch it a few months ago but only made it through 20 minutes. I can't imagine how anyone sat through it long enough to figure out whether or not Weisz was good or not.

Best Picture - Comedy or Musical
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silving Linings Playbook
Thoughts - Despite my love for Ewan McGregor, I really have NO interest in seeing this Yemen fishing movie.

Best Actress - Comedy or Musical
Emily Blunt - Salmon Fishing in Yemen
Judi Dench - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith - Quartet
Meryl Streep - Hope Springs
Thoughts - Guilt Trip must be REAL bad if even the Globes didn't nominate Streisand in this category.

Best Actor - Comedy or Musical
Jack Black - Bernie
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Bill Murray - Hyde Park on Hudson
Ewan McGregor - Salmon Fishing in Yemen
Thoughts - I really thought Bernie was insufferable. And I've heard that Hyde Park on Hudson was terrible. This category is a bit cray.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Nicole Kidman - The Paperboy
Thoughts - Kidman again! Perhaps this is the list that will transfer over to the Oscars?

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Thoughts - Finally, Leo!

Best Director
Ben Affleck - Argo
Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained

Top Ten List: Best Actress of the Decade

10. Hillary Swank in Million Dollar Baby (2004) - My position on Swank is probably known by now. I'm not her biggest fan. However, good acting is good acting and you can't deny she's incredible in this film. I can't say its her best work (I still love her Boys Don't Cry performance) but she has moved past acting with this role. She simply exists in her character and it's great to watch.

09. Ellen Page in Hard Candy (2005) - Two years before Juno, there was Hard Candy. Page was something like 17 or 18 when she filmed this movie and she manages to give a master's class in acting, delivering a performance so layered and subtle that actors twice or three times her age had to be crazy jealous of her undeniable talent.

08. Julie Christie in Away From Her (2007) - It was the Oscars in 2008 and Julie Christie was flat out robbed by Marion Cotillard in a performance that I can barely even remember. Christie, however, has stuck in my mind, managing to be, dare I say, unforgettable as an Alzheimer patient. Beautiful and tragic, Christie is divine.

07. Michelle Williams in Wendy and Lucy (2008) - Quite possibly the most underrated performance of the year (or maybe even the decade), Williams commands the screen in this slow, bittersweet indie film about the friendship between a woman and her dog on a cross country road trip. Williams is so perfect as a lonely woman who has managed to fall between the cracks; a good person who society has managed to forget about.

06. Naomi Watts in 21 Grams (2003) - Watts has always been a good actress, but she's simply great here. Not only is she remarkably belieavable as a suffering widow but she brings so much gut wrenching emotion to her performance. The movie is presented so strongly out of context and that decision simply makes the performances that much more powerful, especially by Watts who shines as part of a truly impressive ensemble.

05. Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream (2000) - Quite possibly the most depressing movie I have ever seen and part of that is thanks to Burstyn's killer performance. There's no sugar coating this tale of addicts with Burstyn starring as a sweet Jewish wido who almost unknowingly becomes addicted to prescription diet pills that help her lose weight but plunge her into a terrifying world of paranoia and hallucinations.

04. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) - I was going to pick her Doubt performance but let's face it. Meryl can do that kind of thing in her sleep. What impressed me so much about The Devil Wears Prada is Meryl's ability to prove she really can do anything at all, including taking a co-starring role, turning it into a terrifying amalgamation of Cruella DeVille and Anna Wintour and proving that she can be one of the most bankable movie stars in the world. And this is why Meryl Streep is queen. That's all.

03. Helen Mirren in The Queen (2006) - Mirren doesn't merely play Queen Elizabeth II, she becomes Queen Elizabeth II. Her performance is simply superb. Thanks to Mirren, the Queen comes off as complicated and reserved, cold and yet jarringly open. Mirren manages to take this Queen who seems so closed up and larger than life and make her human. The performance is as fascinating as it is entertaining.

02. Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge! (2001) - There are times when Kidman comes off as a reserved, closed up actress. But in Moulin Rouge! she is sexy, warm, stunning, loveable, and even a little goofy. Kidman has never been better than playing the born entertainer Satine. From those intricate, lavish and slightly twisted musical numbers to her electrifying chemistry with Ewan McGregor, Kidman is simply - Spectacular, Spectacular!

01. Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - Eternal Sunshine is easily the most original love story of the decade and Winslet, who is brilliant in EVERYTHING, doesn't disappoint with her performance here. She plays a woman who craves attention as much as she craves intimacy. She is a little mean but totally loveable. She is a jumble of paradoxes and it's easy to see why anyone would fall madly in love with her. She even manages to be funnier than Jim Carrey. I would only want to erase her and this performance from my memory so I can experience it again for the first time. Simply brilliant.

Vantage Point + more

Vantage Point - The concept of Vantage Point isn't exactly bad. It's sort of interesting actually. The premise is: the President gets assassinated at a Summit meeting in Spain. Then, the same twenty minutes are shown multiple times from different points of view which all uncover different clues to lead you to the conclusion. If it had been executed properly, this movie could have been very strong. Unfortunately, it's absolutely predictible (at least I predicted it from twenty minutes in), the dialogue is terrible and the movie more or less dumbs itself down. It's not the cast that is to blame. Granted they don't have much to work with but William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Dennis Quaid, and Forest Whitaker are all strong actors. Still, the most interesting parts of movie, for me, was when they showed the story from the point of view of the seemingly background characters. There was a car chase near the end which was pretty fantastic at first and then just became more and more ridiculous. Then there were a lot of small things that just drove me kind of crazy. First of all, this international counter-terrorism summit is hosted, not by the prime minister of Spain or another high ranking Spanish politician but by... the mayor. Yeah, ok. Also, in such events, I would think the general public would not be allowed to show up, especially such a huge crowd. But what do I know. I also hated the way the movie assumed the audience was dumb (granted, most of them probably were because people on imdb seem to like this movie). It showed us something that happend in the past of Quaid's character. Then, literally, fifteen minutes later, it showed us again in flashbacks. Let's remind the audience why this character is so stressed and paranoid in case they already forgot. I also have quite a few issues with the ending. I'm trying not to give too much away but the reason the terrorists don't succeed with their mission is because the getaway car crashes... because they didn't want to hit a little girl. Now, before you say, awww, such nice terrorists, consider that they already assassinated a president, blew up a square full of innocent bystanders, orchestrated a detailed kidnapping plot and engaged in a high speed chase through small side streets of a Spanish village. But, no, god forbid we hit a little girl who is too stupid to get out of the road for a speeding vehicle! The thing that bothers me so much about this movie is that it actually could have been really good. But, alas, for now, Cloverfield still sits atop the Best of 2008 list... and that's kind of sad.
Grade: D+

Margot at the Wedding - Noah Baumbach, how I love you. Margot at the Wedding is a neurotic biting film where the laughs are as sharp as razor blades. They come fast and furious and are often enough to draw blood. It focuses on a disfunctional relationship between two sisters (Nicole Kidman is the titular Margot and Jennifer Jason Leigh is her sister Pauline) who haven't spoken in years. Margot and her son Claude come to stay with Pauline to celebrate her wedding to Malcolm (Jack Black who is somehow maybe channeling Napoleon Dynamite). The film is choppily edited and the piece has a structure which is all over the place. Still, I mostly enjoyed it. I didn't love it as much as The Squid and the Whale but it's still a strong film. Leigh is fantastic as a mostly mellow woman who has a serious lack of accomplishment and a penchant for temper tantrums (which are completely justified usually). Kidman as Margot is the best she's ever been in my opinion. She likes to make trouble for everyone to keep the focus on them and away from her own problems. There is a point when Margot and Pauline even become like an extension of the same character. There are a lot of clues to things that may hide under the surface (abuse, incest, etc.) but is never really investigated further. This is a very dark film but it's mostly enjoyable. I loved Kidman and I loved Leigh. I did have a few problems with the film (the babysitter while I guess she served a purpose, was just plain annoying and the next door neighbors who seemingly inhabited a whole different world). Also, I didn't exactly love the ending. Still, the movie is sharply written and the performances by the leading ladies are superb.
Grade: B

American Gangster - The very first scene in American Gangster shows a man getting lit on fire. That is a perfect way to start a film, in my opinion. It took me a while to give in and watch this movie. I couldn't get over the two hour and forty minute running time. Now, I love a long movie. There Will Be Blood was almost three hours long and I wish it would have been LONGER! Still, I love Daniel Day-Lewis and I love Paul Dano and I will watch them for ten hours if Paul Thomas Anderson wants me to. However, I don't really love Denzel Washington and I am just now starting to not hate Russell Crowe so the almost three hour time was daunting. I do love Josh Brolin but he's barely in this movie, unfortunately. Anyway, American Gangster follows Washington's Frank Lucas, a driver for a mob boss who dies and then decides to take over Harlem for himself. He goes oversees and starts smuggling pure drugs into New York City. It's twice as good as the other stuff on the street and half as expensive. He becomes a multi-millinaire and more or less runs the streets of Harlem. Crowe plays Richie Roberts, a cop who is honest on the job but not with his wife. He heads up a drug enforcement program and he begins to center his investigation on Frank Lucas after a while. While the film is long, it's mostly engrossing and enjoyable. While everyone keeps talking about Washington with this film (and he does play a badass, whatever), I liked Crowe's more subtle performance better. The different sides of his personality are always fighting with each other and his nuances are perfect. Then there's Ruby Dee. She's nominated for Best Supporting Actress at tonight's Oscars and she might win and... I don't think she deserves it at all! Sorry, but she had one good scene. It was a solid stand out scene but it is hardly Oscar worthy. Overall, I really liked the movie... until the last five minutes when they show what happened to all the different characters in real life. I won't ruin it but there is a certain turn of events that I feel is completely against the characters of the film and that sort of ruined the movie for me a little bit. It made me feel like I was lied to; there was a character I admired and learned to like that I just felt betrayed by. To sum up: Ruby Dee should not win Best Supporting Actress, T.I. is a sexy man... but not as sexy as Josh Brolin, and Russell Crowe totally blows Denzel out of the water here.
Grade: B-

Tomorrow - Oscar wrap-up!